


Stand My Ground? (Or just sit down?)

by Wolvesta



Series: Wolf’s Den of 9-1-1 Stories [14]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV), 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: 126 isn't nice, 9-1-1 Lone Star Season 2, 9-1-1 Season 4, AU, Abandonment, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Assumptions, Breaking Up & Making Up, Buck gets injured by the car, Established Relationship, Except TK and Mateo, Feels, Forgotten Ones, Gaslighting, Hen and Eddie left Buck alone and they feel bad, Hopeful Ending, Hurt Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Hurt Evan "Buck" Buckley, Injury, Insecurity, Isolation, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Kinda, M/M, Rescue Missions, Sad with a Hopeful Ending, Wildfires, assuming the worst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29213265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolvesta/pseuds/Wolvesta
Summary: Prompt: Established Buddie during the crossover, Marjan's concerns over Buck being a 'creep' carries over to the rest of the 126 sans TK. Cue the 126 being protective of Marjan and are standoffish and isolate Buck. He goes to his team for help, but they don't take him seriously. Cue Buck then calling Eddie and Hen out for not having his back this time. During this, Marjan reveals that Eddie said he was "doing the whole single-dad thing". Before Eddie can say anything, Buck gets injured, and the 118 is afraid it'll be too late to apologize.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Mateo Chavez, Evan "Buck" Buckley & TK Strand, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Marjan Marwani & Eddie Diaz, Mateo Chavez & TK Strand
Series: Wolf’s Den of 9-1-1 Stories [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551724
Comments: 43
Kudos: 470





	Stand My Ground? (Or just sit down?)

“Alright everyone listen up! The fires are now on a collision course towards the city! We would like to thank the firefighters who have volunteered to come out here and help us to battle these wildfires.” Captain Strand began to brief the situation to all of the different teams. Buck tried his best to listen, but there was something about the woman from the 126. She just seemed so familiar…

“Buck quit staring. It’s creepy”

“I’m not staring” Buck tries to assure quickly.

“You’re staring,” Eddie says, looking back to Owen. He can’t help but stare again before Hen smacks him in the arm.

“Seriously Buck? Please don’t make me report you to HR”

“What? No I swear I know her from somewhere and it’s killing me” Meanwhile, TK points out to Marjan and the others that a guy from the 118 is staring at Marjan. She ignores it, she’s used to the stares, but something about the way he’s staring creeps her out. She voices this to the others, minus TK who went over to the 118 to introduce himself.

“You ok Marjan?” Mateo asks as Paul and Judd gather near her.

“Yea…just that guy kept staring at me. And he kept sneaking glances at me when Cap was briefing us”

“Don’t worry, we got you. He won’t try anything with us around” Judd says and the others agree. They all collectively agree that this guy is a creep.

_But they were wrong...so very wrong_

Buck went over the 126 while TK was chatting with Hen and Eddie.

“Hi I’m Buck from the LAFD 118. It’s nice to meet you all, I hope we can help in any way we can.” Buck says as he reaches out to shake their hand, but he lowers it when they make noises of disgust at him and walk away. Marjan throws a nasty look at him before going to the medical tent to stock up on supplies. Buck feels his heart sink at this, he’s only been in Austin for a few minutes and people already hate him?

_What did he do?_

{~}{~}

Buck finds himself alone after the weird incident with the 126. He tries to go back and think about what he may have done, but nothing comes to mind. If it’s because he was staring at the woman, he’ll apologize gladly…he just knows he’s seen her before somewhere. He tries to look for his team but he can’t find them anywhere. He tries to find his boyfriend but he can’t find him anywhere. Not even 20 minutes in Austin and he feels alone. He wants to socialize, it’s something Dr. Copeland and he have been working together, but it’s still hard. He sees Hen come into his view and he looks at her.

“Where have you been?”

“Checking out the medical tent”

“Where’s Eddie?” Buck asks coming in front of Hen.

“I don’t know” Hen replies trying to get around Buck to check her gear.

“What do you mean you don’t know? You guys abandoned me.” Buck exclaims and he finds it irritating when Hen laughs. “Also why did we bring these trucks if we’re just going to park them?”

“Only way up that fire line is by foot”

“I don’t like the idea of strangers in our rigs”

“No strangers here Buck, just grunts with shovels,” she says as she tosses him a shovel.

“Where’s yours?”

“Me? No I volunteered for the base camp medical unit. But have a good hike” Eddie then chooses this time to come into their area. Buck feels relief when he sees his boyfriend.

“Eddie, can you believe this? Hen isn’t going with us up to the fire line. Looks like it’ll be you and me” Buck says but his excitement dies down when the woman pulls up to their area.

“You ready soldier?”

“Wait…you’re going with her?”

“Yea…” Eddie says as he puts on his jacket. Buck has no time to register his shock when it clicks.

“Wait…I know who she is! She’s firefox!” Hen and Eddie share a look of confusion before looking at Buck again. “Firefox! She’s a total badass! I followed her on Instagram…but she never followed me back.” Eddie gives him a look he can’t read before he goes to the car that Marjan is in.

“Abandoners!” Buck says quietly before looking down. Eddie didn’t even say bye…

{~}{~}

“Ready to roll soldier?”

“Yea! Wait what’s your name again?”

“Marjan Marwani. Nice to meet you”

“Eddie Diaz, likewise” Marjan starts to step on the gas and Eddie shouts as she accelerates the cart. He waves to Paul and Judd as they race to find the kids.

_It isn’t until halfway there that Eddie realizes that he never told Buck to be careful and stay safe._

_And he knows it’s why he feels off_

{~}{~}

“Hey I’m Buck from LA 118, how can I help?” He asks as he approaches Mateo but he feels his heart sink again when he walks away.

“Don’t worry about him, he just gets shy around new people” says TK coming up from behind him.

“I think that makes two of us…what can I do to help?” Buck asks, trying to dissolve the nerves spinning in his guts.

“Well Captain DeLeon told us to dig trenches along these areas and lines. So let’s start here” TK says pointing to the map and Buck nods as he follows TK to the area where Mateo is already digging along with other firefighters. “That’s Mateo, we’re both from the 126 here” Buck looks to Mateo, who looks at Buck before waving. They begin to steadily dig before they finish and move onto the next area.

TK and Buck had been making steady conversation and Mateo can’t help but listen in. Buck doesn’t seem like a creepy person like the others thought…maybe if he just asks-

“So LA huh?” Mateo asks before he can think of what to say.

“Yea” Buck pants before digging again.

“I got a cousin in LA. Marvin…people say we look alike. Maybe you know him.” Buck shrugs and this before giving a small smile.

“It’s kind of a big place”

“No I know, his last name is Chavez”

“Sorry I don’t think so”

“He’s in jail anyway” TK and Buck stop their work to look at Mateo before resuming.

“I bet you get some crazy calls out there” Mateo says, trying to keep the conversation going to get more of a read on this guy.

“You have no idea”

“We get our fair share here in Texas,” TK says, joining the conversation. Soon, Mateo, TK, and Buck are trading their craziest calls that happened to them and Mateo is listening with fascination. He was wrong about this guy, and he’s sure there’s an explanation.

“Hey Buck, quick question?”

“Yea what’s up?”

“Why were you staring at Marjan earlier?”

“That’s what her name is? I never got it last time, I didn’t mean to stare, she just seemed so familiar and then I remembered that she went viral for a bunch of things. I never got a chance to say anything though.” Mateo feels bad when he hears this. He knows he shouldn’t assume things, but he just did that. He didn’t have a chance to apologize or explain himself before the battalion chief orders them to move onto another area.

{~}{~}

Soon the day comes to an end as a team replaces the search team for survivors. Everyone else makes their way back from their areas and meet back at camp. Eddie walks in and sees TK, Mateo, and Buck deep in conversation, and he tries to squish the surge of jealously when he sees Buck laugh at something TK says. He goes over and puts a hand on Buck’s back.

“Hey, how was your mission?” Buck asks and Eddie smiles, he missed him.

“Good, we found more survivors. There’s another team out there looking for more” Buck nods as Mateo and TK regroup with their teams. “I missed you today” and he feels his heart break when he sees Buck’s look of shock. “Buck…you know I missed you right?”

“Yea I know…I missed you too” Eddie frowns at Buck before gripping his arms.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie leads them to an area behind the tents, signaling for Hen to come along. Soon Hen, Eddie and Buck are gathered in a small group behind the tents.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Buck was-“

“Wondering how it went with you two and the 126?” Buck interrupts and Eddie gives him a strange look that he ignores.

“It went good. The 126 is so nice, especially Paul and Judd. I love working with them and I can’t wait to work with them again tomorrow. How was digging trenches?”

“I wish someone I knew was there. It’s hard meeting new people in a new state” Buck says, hoping Hen will ask to elaborate, but she doesn’t.

“It’s only for a few days Buck”

“I don’t think the others like me? They’re very standoffish with me every time I try to talk to them.”

“That’s not true Buck. I think you’re seeing things”

“But-“ They have to go back into the tent when they heard lights out for a few hours. Eddie lets go of Buck’s hand in order to go talk to the captain. Buck tries to contain his tears at his team not taking him seriously again. He expects this from Hen…but from Eddie? Eddie is supposed to be his partner, he’s supposed to have his back no matter what.

“You ok?” TK asks and Buck sighs before he says he’s fine, but he remembers what his therapist said.

“I don’t think your team like me very much”

“What do you mean?” TK asks and Buck then goes on to explain everything and TK is listening closely.

“I tried to tell my team but I don’t think they’re listening to me right now” Buck says looking down and TK knows the feelings of being unheard.

“I apologize on behalf of my team, but they really are good people. I’ll try to find out” TK says before the captain calls lights out for the final time. They both go into the tents and Eddie waves him from his position. Buck joins him on the adjacent cot, sad that he can’t sleep next to Eddie, but he finds that it’s good enough when Eddie reaches out to grab his hand.

{~}{~}

It went like that for the following two days. Buck tries to make small talk with the rest of the 126, but they always give him the cold shoulder. And every time he tries to bring it up with Eddie and Hen, they keep brushing it off. He tries to tell Eddie in private, but he’s just _not listening._

_Looks like another thing to talk about in therapy._

{~}{~}

Captain DeLeon wakes everyone up after 7 hours and tells them to have breakfast and coffee before regrouping and heading out. It’s the 3rd day here and Buck feels exhausted. He rubs the dirt out of his eyes before looking around and sees that Eddie is pouring coffee for everyone. People help themselves to bagels and protein bars. Buck goes for the last cup of coffee before Judd steps in front of him before swiping it away.

“Hey, that was mine” Buck says but suppresses a flinch when Judd turns around quickly and uses his full height against Buck.

“And what are you going to do about it creep?”

“What? I’m not a-“

“Just stay away from me and we won’t have a problem” He says before walking away, dumping the coffee in the trash. Buck tries not to cry at this, it’s just coffee, but Judd just looked so intimidating…he panicked. Buck tries to shake it off before going for the breakfast bars. He goes for the one without cashews in it because of his allergies, but Paul takes the last one. He sees the look that Paul shoots at him before opening the packaging and eating the bar, leaving Buck with nothing.

He has no time to look for something else to eat before Captain Strand begins to address them. He has no choice but to stand in between Judd and Paul, he can feel the looks they’re giving him, and it doesn’t feel very good.

“Ok everyone from the 126 and the 118, we’re the only teams left that are available to find JJ, so it’s up to us to find him” Owen then pairs Buck off with Judd and Paul with he pairs Eddie with TK, Marjan and Mateo. Hen is ordered to stay behind to assist in the medical tent. Buck hears Judd and Paul groan when they hear who they’re paired off with. Buck tries not to feel hurt at this…he tries to repeat not to take it personally. He tries to remember what he learned in therapy, that he’s not responsible for other people’s reactions. He sees Marjan go outside with Paul and they start to gather supplies. Maybe he can clear the air…

“Um excuse me?” Buck asks from behind Paul and Marjan.

“What do you want?” Asks Marjan as Paul steps in front of her. Judd coming in from the tent in order to stand next to Paul and Marjan. He feels his courage die down at the looks everyone is giving him.

“I just wanted to say that I didn’t mean to cause any trouble And I’m sorry if-“

“Whatever you have to say, we don’t want to hear it” Judd says, using his full height on Buck, who takes a step back. He looks at Marjan before taking a step to adjust himself.

“If this is about me staring at you, I didn’t mean-“

“We don’t care what you have to say. There’s no excuse for not respecting women. We know what those stares meant” Paul says.

“I’ve been getting those stares my whole life” Marjan says, and things click for Buck in that instant.

“Oh god…no that’s not what I meant. I just-“

“We don’t want to hear it.”

“But it’s not like that...wait please” Buck takes a step forward to catch up to Marjan who is already steps ahead of him. It happens fast enough that he doesn’t see it coming. When he takes the step forward, Judd steps in front of the both of them and pushes Buck back. He wasn’t a hard shove, but Buck didn’t see it coming, so he fell to the ground. When he hits the ground, he curls into himself and refuses to look up.

{~}{~}

“Hey ready to-“ TK gets cut off when he sees Judd push Buck back and he stumbles onto the ground.

“BUCK!” he shouts and Mateo is behind him. Eddie’s head jerks up at the sound of the name and sees TK and Mateo rushing over to Buck, who looks terrified. “What the hell Judd? Paul? What the hell happened here?”

“I-I didn’t mean to push him so hard. But he was about to grab Marjan” Judd says, trying to explain the situation. Paul nods, but looks guilty, and Marjan is watching Buck with suspicious eyes.

“Buck?!” Eddie shouts and runs to where he’s still on the ground. He doesn’t touch Buck, but he leans in his space. “It’s ok, no one is going to hurt you”

“They already did” Buck says quietly.

“What is going on over here?” Owen demands seeing the situation unfold from afar, regretting not stepping in sooner.

“Nothing cap, just a little disagreement” Mateo tries to reassure Owen before anything else goes wrong.

“Because I could have sworn I saw you assault a fellow firefighter Ryder” Owen states before dropping his duffel.

“Only because he was going to do the same thing to Marjan”

“What?! He would never-“ Eddie and Hen try to assure quickly but Marjan speaks up.

“Then why was he staring at me like a creep the day he got here? It’s the same look that every guy has when they look at me. And-“

“I’m not a creep!” Buck says, standing up with the support of TK. “I’m sorry I was staring at you…you just looked so familiar and then I remembered. You went viral for helping that woman with the Prius. Then I remembered I followed you on Insta, but you never accepted my friend request. Which is fine because you’re not entitled too, but it was just nice to meet a badass firefighter…that’s all” Buck says looking down in embarrassment, he feels his cheeks heat up at the stares.

“Wait…why didn’t you say anything to us?” Hen asks and he feels a surge of anger, and barely contains it when he addresses Hen.

“I did tell you but you didn’t believe me. You told me I was imagining things.” Hen’s face falls at this and she reaches for him but he takes a step back in order to avoid her touch.

“Buck…you could have-“

“I told you too! But you didn’t believe me…you just kept walking away.” Eddie feels awful, he didn’t mean to.

“Buck-“ Hen tries again but TK interrupts this time.

“You guys could have asked like we did. He would have explained that he’s just a fan.”

“A fan?” Marjan asks, knowing that they made a horrible mistake.

“It was just nice to finally meet my competition.” Buck says, looking at Marjan and she feels a pang of guilt with the tears in his eyes.

“C-competition?”

“Ever heard of #LAFDdaredevil?”

“Yea…”

“Well that’s me…I just wanted to meet you cause you seemed so nice and cool and badass and I thought we could trade stories” Buck says before looking down. “Guess I was wrong…I heard great things about the 126…I was just happy to meet new people”

“Buck-“ Eddie tries again.

“But what really hurt the most was my team not having my back…my own boyfriend didn’t have my back” Buck says as he looks at Eddie with tears in his eyes.

“Buck…I’m so-“ Eddie tries but Marjan interrupts him.

“Wait…he’s your boyfriend? He told me he was a single dad” Marjan says and Eddie feels his heart stop at the look of devastation that takes over Buck’s face.

“Oh…I see” Buck says before taking a step back.

“No…that’s not-I-I didn’t mean-“ Eddie tries to take a step towards Buck, desperate to explain himself that he didn’t know what kind of person Marjan is. That he loves him no matter what, that he’s sorry for not sticking for him but TK and Mateo step in front of him.

“No! He needs a minute” TK says as Mateo escorts him away to the tents. TK keeps staring before following them. Buck stops and turns to Marjan.

“I understand not wanting to follow someone who you think is stalking you…I know the feeling. But you could have just asked”

“I know people like you but-“

“You don’t know the first thing about me! You don’t know how I’ve been used by people I thought I could trust. You don’t know how I know the fear of meeting ‘a stalker’ in real life. You don’t know what it’s like to be taken advantage of by a therapist. And you don’t know what it’s like to be abandoned by the people you love.” Buck says before Mateo escorts him away again.

The silence is deafening

“Buck wait!” Eddie tries to follow him but Hen holds him back, shaking her head.

“126 with me now!” Owen breaks everyone out of their bubbles by demanding that his team follows him to a private area. Eddie watches as they all hang their heads as they follow him. He notes the shocked look on Marjan’s face and the look of horror on Judd.

“God Hen…what did we do?” Eddie asks as he feels his voice break.

“We fucked up…we fucked up bad”

{~}{~}

“You doing ok?” TK asks, handing Buck a cup of water as Mateo gives Buck a snack.

“Not really…but we have more important things to worry about right now.”

“Hey, if Cap pairs us off again, you can tag along with us. We got you”

“No it’s ok…you can go with your team”

“No way, you’re part of our team” says TK and Buck smiles slightly.

“Now as I was saying, LA and Texas is like Captain American and Iron Man”

{~}{~}

It was almost ten minutes later when Owen called out to get ready to roll out. TK and Mateo leave Buck to finish drinking water and snacking while they double check their supplies. He feels claustrophobic inside the tent with everyone shuffling in and out of the tent. He dips out and sits at the top of a small hill, holding the water in his hand as he sighs. He hears a set of boots come up the hill, but he doesn’t turn around to see who it is, as he’s not interested in who has to talk to him.

“Evan…can we talk? Please?”

“What do you want Eddie?” Buck asks, the feelings of hurt coming back to him.

“I-I want to say I’m sorry-“

“Sorry for what? Not having my back? Not taking my concerns seriously? Or is it telling Marjan that you’re single?” Buck wipes his eyes at the returning tears and moves over when Eddie sits down. Eddie tries not to feel hurt at the rejection.

“All of it…you were right. I haven’t had your back at all this entire trip down here, and I should have. I should have taken you seriously when you told me your concerns about the others and-“ Eddie is at a loss for words, hating himself for sounding so selfish with so many _I’s._ But he’s been selfish the whole trip here. “I was so caught up in everything that happened that I-“

“Forgot about me…”

“I didn’t mean to, I love you-“

“You told Marjan that you were a single dad…”

“I wasn’t sure how she was going to react to me in a relationship with another man. I didn’t want to out us in a different state and-“

“Some of the other firefighters here are in same-sex relationships. Paul is openly trans…what made you think they wouldn’t be ok with it?”

“I-I wasn’t thinking…and I wasn’t the person you-“

“I don’t care if you went off with other teams mates” Buck stands up as the water spills out of his hands. “I just needed you to have my back” Eddie suppresses a flinch at the stark reminder of Shannon’s words.

_I needed someone to have my back!_

_I’ve always had your back!_

_No…you were in Afghanistan_

“I know…and I’m so sorry I did that to you”

“Me too Buck” he hears from next to him and sees Hen approach hesitantly.

“You said you would report me to HR when I kept looking at Marjan…”

_“_ It was meant to be a joke-“

_“_ Well it didn’t feel like a joke! You always tease me and makes jokes…and I just want them to stop”

“Buck…oh I’m so sorry” Hen says guilty, reaching for his hands but stops when Buck takes a step back. “Buck…we-“

“Wilson! You’re with me” Owen calls to her as he runs to the helicopter. She hesitantly looks to Buck and addresses him once more. “I have to go…but I do want to talk more about this later” Hen says and she hears the helicopter start up before she runs to where Owen is climbing in.

“Buck…can we talk please?” Eddie asks a few minutes after Hen left.

“What else is there to say?”

“Sweetheart-“ Eddie tries again but Buck shakes his head at the nickname. And Eddie is terrified that this is it, the final straw. He’s let down Buck so many times, and he’s afraid this is it for them.

_But he has no one to blame but himself_

“Eddie…look right now we have a job to do. We came here to do it and we should finish it. I don’t have time to think about what this means for us”

_“_ A-are you breaking up with me?” Eddie asks, tears now rushing down his face.

“No…I just don’t know what this means for us. I don’t want to break up but…I’m just hurting right now” Buck says wiping the tear on his face away.

“Buck…I’m-

“I’ve always had your back Eddie. And it really hurt knowing you didn’t have mine” Eddie’s hands fall at this, Buck sighs before walking away to where TK is signaling him.

{~}{~}

“That was tough to watch” Owen says as the helicopter begins to take on more height. Hen looks down, but she says nothing. “I already gave my team a talk, they’re going to apologize when this is all over.”

“They aren’t the only ones who need to apologize…I messed up too”

“You want to be a doctor right?”

“Yea…how did you know?”

“Sorry, I overheard you talking to one of the doctors in the medical tent.”

“Yea medical school is expensive and I need the overtime.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Do for what?”

“When a patient comes to you and tells you about their symptoms, but they aren’t visible to you or any of your colleagues, what are you going to do then? Are you going to gaslight them and tell them what they’re experiencing isn’t real?” Owen asks and it silences Hen on anything else she has to say. She feels her heart sink at the person she’s becoming on this trip…she doesn’t like it one bit.

“What am I-“

“Captain take a look at this” says the pilot and they see a heat signature resembling a body.

{~}{~}

“Excuse me?” Buck’s posture goes rigid at the voice behind him, and he sees Marjan and the others behind her.

“Yes?” Buck asks, trying to calm his anxiety when he sees Judd.

“I want to apologize to you Buck, it was wrong of me to assume what your intentions were and-“ Marjan tries not to stutter, but she’s never made such a bad mistake in her life before now.

“I shouldn’t have been staring…I was just so sure that I knew you from somewhere and I remembered I saw your story about rescuing those people by jumping off a bridge.”

“I didn’t know you were a fan-“

“You never even asked…but it’s ok I guess, I’m just to people assuming the worst in me”

“But that’s not fair to you, I’ve been judged my entire life because of my hijab. I shouldn’t have made the same assumptions about you. I looked you up, and I saw the news about you. How you were a catfisher, so I assumed you were a womanizer…it was wrong of me to assume.” Marjan jumps when Buck slams down the toolbox on the table.

“Someone stole my identity and used it to catfish two women. They found me and threw food and water in my face when I was on a date with my now ex. I felt so humiliated because someone caught it on camera and now it’s everywhere. People take one look at me and they see a womanizer, but I would never disrespect _any_ woman like that.”

“I’m sorry I-“

“I know what it’s like to be afraid of the opposite sex. And I know the stigmas around men staring at women, and I’m sorry about that.”

“You’re afraid of me?” Marjan asks in horror.

“Of everyone on your team…new people in general. It’s something I’m trying to work on.”

“I thought you-“

“I know what you thought, but I have no interest in you whatsoever. Especially not when I have a boyfriend and a son...at least I think I do. And even if I wasn't, I’m done dating women, every single one of my ex-girlfriends has either used me or abandoned me. Even my ex-therapist used me to get what she wanted, how can anyone else be any different?” Buck asks turning back to the toolbox, stunning the team behind him. Eddie longs to comfort Buck when he sees the tears in his eyes, reliving the traumatic memories, but he lost the right to do anything when he didn’t have his back.

“Buck…can I just say I’m sorry for pushing you-“

“I’ve been pushed by others my whole life when I met someone new…why should you be any different?” Buck says without turning around and it closes Judd’s mouth. Paul is about to speak up when Capt. DeLeon tells TK, Buck and Mateo to assist with a rescue up the road while the rest go to two different locations. Eddie’s team hesitantly moves to where the ATV’s are and load up.

“Buck wait…please be safe out there” Eddie says to him before he walks out of the tent, hesitantly following him. He feels a small amount of hope when Buck envelops him in a hug.

“You too” he let’s go before Eddie has a chance to hug him back.

“I love you Evan” this stops Buck in his tracks before his shoulders drop.

“Love you too” Buck says quietly before ducking out of the tent. Buck takes a breathe of somewhat fresh air and when he hears his phone go off. He sees a notification on Instagram. He opens the app and sees a message on his notifications:

_**FireFox🔥🦊** wants to follow you_

_Accept or Delete_

Buck stares at the phone for a moment before looking up and sees Marjan looking at him from across the tent. He looks back down at the phone before hitting an option:

_Deleted_

{~}{~}

Eddie kept his eyes on Buck as Judd drove the ATV to the location DeLeon gave them. He kept watching in the rearview mirror until he couldn’t see him anymore. He sighs dejectedly when he’s out of view, trying to think about the mess he’s made. Judd, Paul, and Marjan are silent in the ATV too, they have no idea what to say.

“How’d the talk with Buck go?” Paul asks, breaking the silence, and Eddie laughs pathetically.

“I’m scared he wants to break up with me…I screwed up”

“Us too…we didn’t mean to treat him like that” Paul says, “We know what it’s like to be treated differently when someone looks at us. So many different things and people have hurt us. We should never have treated someone else differently without getting to know them first”

“I’m not a bad person...but I know my actions proved otherwise-“

“I want to be mad at you three...but that would make me a hypocrite. He’s right...I didn’t stick up for him...and I should have. And the worst part is? I was just so excited to be back in Texas...that I forgot about him” Eddie says wiping his tear away before it can escape his eye. He refuses to cry in from of the 126.

“We didn’t mean to isolate him that way. We’re just protective of our team…our family, but that’s no excuse” Judd tries to explain to Eddie, but he doesn’t move from his position. Eddie takes out his phone and wants to text Buck, but he knows that he needs his space. The ATV comes to a stop when Owen and Hen tell them they arrived at the location. Judd and Eddie followed Hen’s instructions carefully and JJ was ready to be transported to the hospital. Eddie felt a small amount of hope, but it died when the helicopter when down

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“You don’t have to do this you know”

“That’s my friend out there, if the roles were reversed, then she would do the same for me,” Buck says but stops when he thinks of the recent events. “I think…yea she would. Maybe” Buck asks, and TK can’t help but frown at the doubt.

“Hey dumbass! Dumbasser! Did you stop and consider the consequences of what you’re about to do at all?”

“You obviously don’t know Buck,” Eddie says coming around the other side.

“Not that you bothered” TK muttered under his breath but the rest hear it all the same and it stops anything the others were going to say.

“You two seriously think that could sneak off and drive into wildfires did you?”

“Yes?”

“Well you can’t-“ Judd tries to say but is interrupted by Buck.

“You think you’re going to stop us?” Buck asks and Eddie has never heard Buck so defensive before.

“Stop you? Look you aren’t doing this alone, so let’s go” Mateo says going towards the 126 truck as Buck and TK follow, not bothering to wait to see if the others are following. The second Buck starts the truck, the rest of the 126 and Eddie scramble to climb into the truck. TK then points the way for Buck to go and soon they see Hen waving her jacket to signal them.

“Dad!”

“Hen!” Everyone scrambles down the hill as they rush to help Hen, Owen and the pilot into the truck before Buck drives them off to the medical tent. Eddie puts on an oxygen mask on both Owen and Hen as they ride to the tent. Hen can breathe sighs of relief when she sees they were rescued, but it doesn’t last long when she feels the tension inside the cabin and she knows that most of them are feeling the events of today. Buck parks the truck back in its location before he goes to help Hen out of the truck and helps her to a cot so she can get checked out. Buck gently sits her down before turning away, but Hen gently grips his arm.

“Thank you for coming for us” Buck doesn’t say anything, but he nods as he smiles. Hen is about to say something else when Captain DeLeon requests some help. Hen is stuck in the tent next to Owen who fell asleep in the cot, she informs the doctor that he may have a concussion. Eddie sits down next to Hen as she continues to breathe in oxygen.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better now that everyone is safe”

“DeLeon said that it’s going to start to rain soon”

“How’s Buck? Are you two going to break up?”

“He said he has no time to think about us until the fires are contained…I really messed up”

“So did I…I can’t believe I said that to him. When he told me what was happening to him, I dismissed him. And Owen pointed out that I can’t do that when a patient comes to me. I don’t like the person I became on this trip”

“Do you love him as much as he loves you?” They hear a voice ask and they see TK looking down at them.

“Of course I do, he’s family to me,” Hen says.

“Because when we were going to get the truck, he doubted that you would risk it all to save him if his life was on the line. That’s all I’m gonna say” TK says before walking off to check on his dad. Eddie and Hen share a sad look before looking down. Eddie looks up and tries to find Buck, to see if they can talk, but everything stops when he heard the radios crackle to life.

“Firefighter down! I repeat, firefighter Buckley is down!” Eddie’s knees buckle when he hears this. Eddie stumbles to where paramedics and others are rushing to a burning car.

“W-what happened?!” Eddie asks as tries to elbow his way to where firefighters are extinguishing the flames on the car while others work to lift it. Eddie tries to rush over but is held back by Judd.

“Judd, let me go! Buck!” Judd doesn’t budge, he just pulls him back away from the scene. The fire is out as firefighters push the car off of Buck, who is unconscious. Paramedics put him on a gurney and take him inside a private area of the medical tent. TK tosses the fire extinguisher off to the side as he comes over to Eddie.

“TK…what happened?” Eddie is completely limp in Judd’s arms as he is slowly put on the floor where he sits on his knees, staring at where the paramedics took Buck.

“He was cleaning up the equipment and the car came coming down the hill. No one was watching his back” TK says and Eddie lets out a quiet sad laugh.

_You can have my back any day_

_Or you could have mine_

Eddie promised that day that he would always watch Buck’s back…

And he broke that promise…twice

* * *

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Sorry if this isn't good...

Next chapter will be out ASAP!


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